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Overview

Japan lead Asian charge to Korea 2007

(FIFA.com) Monday 18 September 2006

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Eastern Asian teams stole the limelight as Korea DPR met
Japan in this year's AFC U-17 Championship final, and it was
the islanders who ran out 4-2 winners after extra-time at
Singapore's Jalan Besar Stadium.

There was, in fact, double cause for celebration among the
Japanese contingent, with the two-times champions' Yoichiro
Kakitani bagging the tournament's Most Valuable Player award
thanks to some sparkling performances over the course of the
competition.

The champions did not, though, hold a monopoly on success, with
Korea DPR, Syria and the tournament's surprising packages
Tajikistan all joining Japan in booking a place at the FIFA U-17
World Cup Korea Republic.

All four had reached the semi-final stage, where the two Eastern
Asian sides emerged victorious, Japan edging out Syria 2-0 and
Korea DPR putting paid to Tajikistan's brave challenge with a
3-0 win.

Fresh from that emphatic win, Korea DPR went into their second
consecutive AFC U-17 Championship final strongly tipped to go one
better than in 2004 and, when they romped into a 2-0 lead inside 24
minutes, few would have bet on a Japanese revival. O Jin-Hyok had
put his team in front as early as the sixth minute and Ri Sang-Chol
doubled the advantage 18 minutes later to leave Japan staring
defeat in the face with a two-goal half-time deficit.

The underdogs kept faith in their own ability to retrieve the
situation, however, and the turning point arrived when Kakitani
pulled one back just after the interval. The next goal arrived
little over half-and-hour later, Jin Hanato netting a 78th-minute
equaliser to force the match into extra time, where the momentum
was well and truly with the Japanese.

All they needed was a hero and one arrived in the shape of
supersub Hiroki Kawano, who fired them into the lead in 113 minutes
before dribbling through the entire Korea DPR defensive line to
fire home a magical and much-celebrated winner with just seconds
remaining.

Nevertheless, despite such a memorable and dramatic victory, the
triumphant coach, Hiroshi Jofuku, kept a cool head, ignoring the
mayhem going on around him to focus on the challenge ahead. He
said: "Despite the results and the team's wonderful
displays, there are still many areas that we can improve before the
FIFA U-17 World Cup. The core of the Japan U-17 World Cup squad
will come from this team and we will do our job well to make Japan
and Asia proud."

Golden autumn for Korea DPRIn Asia, Autumn is widely considered the best season as it is
the time of harvest.

For Korea DPR, despite their final defeat, it could still be
considered a fruitful fall as their U-17 men followed on from the
example set by their young women at the recent FIFA U-20
Women's World Championship.

The outcome might have been depressingly familiar two years on
from a 1-0 defeat to China, but Korea DPR fans had every reason to
applaud their beaten team, who impressed everyone with their fine
teamwork and never-say-die spirit.

The Eastern Asians didn't have a good start in the group
stage, where they only advanced as the second placed team after
losing to Saudi Arabia 2-1.

However, they emerged as a different side in crucial
quarter-final against China, claiming spectacular revenge by
stunning the defending champions 2-1 to successfully book their
passage to the last four and a place at next year's FIFA U-17
World Cup.

Burgeoning stars announce their arrivalTopping the goal charts was Syrian striker Mohamed Jaafar,
who scored six times - with three separate braces against
Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan - to steer his team into
the last four and claim the tournament's Golden Boot award.

The tournament's MVP, Japan midfielder Yoichiro Kakitani,
proved another revelation, not only with his four goals but with
the prompting and probing he provided at the heart of the Japanese
engine room.

However, coach Jofuku opted to stress the collective efforts
that had enabled his star midfielder to shine. "One Kakitani
can't make a team and it was our team efforts that carried us
all the way through," he said.